Sunday Afternoon with Andy Pettite

The annoying and good thing about a blog is that it forces one to check in and post something just so too much time doesn't go by between posts.

After all, I got this thing started in the hopes of building some discipline as I try to get into the habit of writing. So even if I really don't have much to say, I feel I got to put something out there.

It is a beautiful Sunday here. I should be playing pick-up softball in Brooklyn but I'm not. My team is in the championship next week and I could use the hitting practice but at the same time I thought maybe I'd just chill in my apartment. It's breezy and sunny and I'm doing a quick load of wash (OCD, as usual) and watching the Yankee game. I still have a lot of the paper to get through and I want to grab a nap later.

I went into the office yesterday. This is part of my embrace where you are now and be of service at work movement. So far, so good. I got some stuff done and discovered that the sound is broken on my computer. I don't know how this happened and while I could get it fixed I am going to try not to do that. Without sound, I won't surf You Tube all day looking for either music clips or material of a more tawdry nature. I'm viewing this as a sign that someone wants me to put a little more effort into my job and has graciously done what I could not do for myself and removed one of my big methods of distractions.

Saw Super Bad last night. Very funny although a couple of the subplots didn't work for me. Still, I laughed pretty hard through much of the movie and you can't ask for more than that.

Bought a Jason Starr book. He's a young(ish) noir writer. I read one of his early books and liked it so I thought I'd give this one a shot. I'm only two pages in but I think I'll stick with it. That'll be good since I don't think I am going to ever get through "Then We Came to the End." It got great reviews and it isn't bad but I'm not hooked and I'm about halfway through. It's about this assortment of odd balls working in a Chicago ad agency. Parts of it are amusing but it is either trying to do too much or it says too little. Or maybe I'm just not in the right place for this particular book.

Almost time to go down to the dryer then I'm going to turn on the radio and read in the bedroom. Sooner or later I'll catch this morning's "Reliable Sources," most of which I'll fast forward through. Considering that Howard Kurtz just asked should news magazines be in the opinion business. I should just delete the whole show. Yes, Howard, news magazines should express some opinions. Every story a magazine chooses to pursue has some kind of opinion behind the decision to assign it. Every story Howard Kurtz chooses to write is in part driven by his opinion that this is a story worth reading.

And guess what, that is the way it should be. I trust that if Kurtz is writing it, there is probably some news value to it. When I was in the game my boss expected me to know what was what and determine what was worth a story. That's called having an opinion. I sometimes wonder if so called media watchdogs and pundits wouldn't prefer a world where everyone covered one story and then moved on so that no opinions on the subject matter could be formed. Problem is, that goes against the whole idea of what a reporter does. A reporter is supposed to be well-versed in his beat. He or she is supposed to know the subjects they cover, have the knowledge to determine what is important and what isn't. Will they screw up on occasion? Sure. But I'd rather read pieces from reporters that have edge, knowledge of their subject matter and (gasp) some opinions. I'm a big boy, I can take all that into consideration when I read the story and decide what value to put on it.

OK, I went from a light check-in on a sunny Sunday to a long babble about journalism. Oh well, that's where the keypad took me. Time to go to the dryer.